Successful Open Water Swimming Tips for Triathletes Ep 33

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I'll see you there. Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Chris Newport, and today we are talking all about open water swimming tips and how you can get more confident and conserve energy for your next open water swimming triathlon. So let's start with our first tip. A, number one, and this goes for anything that you want to get better at, you have to practice. So first and foremost, make sure that you're being safe. So never swim alone. Always make sure that you're with either a swimming buddy or somebody who's going to be on a paddleboard or a kayak. Um, so again, just a reminder, don't go alone. And then if you are in a place where you're going to be needing to be seen, make sure that you have the appropriate safety equipment. So I always encourage people to have a brightly colored cap. And this especially goes for you, um, particularly my male athletes who maybe don't like to wear a swim cap, make sure you get used to it in the pool, at least for a little bit, because typically in races you're going to have to wear a swim cap. So, you know, dealing with different core temperatures and how do you put your goggles on underneath your cap, over your cap, things like that, those kind of details, make sure you work those out when you're in the pool. But once you head out to the open water, Make sure you have a brightly colored cap, and then also make sure you have yourself a pool buoy. I'll put a link to a buoy that we like with our partner called NuWave. It's really great. It's kind of like a belt that goes around your waist, it clips, and then you blow it up, and it can also be sort of a wet bag. So you can also have things like your phone or, you know, other things that you might have to carry with you that are going to stay waterproof, and then it's a big brightly colored buoy that sort of trails behind you. I've not had any athletes who have ever had any issues with it. So, so that's a really specific one that you want to make sure that you are being safe in the open water, but again, you got to get out and you got to practice. So the more frequently you get out and practice in the open water, the more comfortable, the more confident you're going to be. So definitely, definitely practice. Second tip is be sure you warm up first. So this is one of those things I typically see with, um, just swimmers in general is that we just hop in. In and we start swimming, right? So instead of doing that, let's make a little bit of a concerted effort, try to make a little bit more of a concerted effort to warm up. So typically if athletes are going to have any sort of discomfort or sense of sort of panic, it tends to be in the first 200 yards. So if we can get ourselves a little bit more warmed up, so doing a dryland warmup, so, you know, moving your arms around, getting your neck warmed up, um, opening up your diaphragm, doing some some deep breathing, opening up and stretching your, um, you know, your rib cage and your lats. And, um, and then, you know, sort of dabbling on the, um, depending on what location you're in, in, in the open water, you know, kind of getting out and doing some drills just like you would do in the pool. Do just, you know, a little bit of an out and back just to get yourself nice and calm and cool and collected and warming up so that you're not panicking in those first 100 meters or so, or 200 yards or so. In a race, this is not always possible, but I always encourage people to try to at least, um, touch the water if you can, or splash it on your face. Um, just kind of getting used to what does the water feel like, what does it taste like. So just that way you're not on sensory overload. I'm trying to deal with all those things, um, you know, the taste and the smell of the water in addition to people being all around you. So a good warmup is, is nice. Um, especially since when you're in the pool, you have an expectation of how many strokes you're going to take or how far the wall is away from you. You have a sort of, um, sort of an expectation of what the distance is going to be. And in the open water, it's a little different. Um, there's a little bit more uncertainty of how far you're going. So again, And that warmup will really help with that comfort in the water. Okay. Tip number 3, you gotta learn some specific skills. And one of them is sighting. So keep in mind, sighting is a way for you to not only look forward, but it's also a way to be aware of your total surroundings. So I always encourage my athletes to— it's not just about looking ahead of you or picking your head up or picking your goggles up and looking forward. It's also about sighting by looking to the side, knowing where there might be a shoreline or trees or a buoy or something else that might be some sort of marker, a dock that you'll know is along perhaps your right side or along perhaps your left side. That way you know what you should be seeing when you go to breathe normally and are not having to always look up to see where you're going. But with sighting, looking up, this is definitely a skill that needs to be practiced because the timing of it in relation to when you breathe is something you have to practice. Um, you can sight and then put your head back down and take a few more strokes before you breathe. Or another technique is looking up and then on that next stroke you're breathing. Um, but this is one of those things that you really have to practice and super easy to do in the pool. I'll do this with my athletes on the pool deck. I'll get, say, different colored pool toys. So I'll say get a blue kickboard and a yellow pool buoy and something else that's a different color. And I'll have them do, say, a 50 or 100 or something along those lines. And on when they come back to the deck or at the end of their set, they have to— I hold something up. So I put something on the deck. That they have to look and tell me what color they saw. So that way they're not having to look up for extended periods of time, because that's really the purpose of sighting, is it's not like picking your head up, looking at something, and then getting every single little fine detail of what you're looking for. You just have to have a general concept of what you're looking for. Like, okay, I know the next time I look up, I should see a yellow triangular buoy. And if you peek your eyes up really quickly and you see it, great, you're on track. If you don't, don't panic. Take a few more strokes, sight again. And then if you don't see it, then you can stop breaststroke or sort of regroup, redirect yourself, and then start again. So practice that sighting in the pool. And again, this goes to tip number 1, practice, practice, practice. Okay. Number 4, tip number 4 out of our 9 open water swimming tips is to breathe on both sides. And this is, I know a lot of people have, um, everybody's going to have a comfortable side. For me, it's my right side. My left side is my weaker side and probably I'm a little tighter on that side. So I probably don't tend to prefer that side anyway, but I know that I can breathe on both sides. This becomes a skill that's important again, to practice in the pool. Because you never know which way. Let's say you turn and the sun now is really glaring into your eyes and you can barely see. So if you're— if I'm breathing to my right side, that's my comfortable side and I can't see a thing. And it's, it's almost impeding my eyesight to not be able to sight for looking forward. You're going to have to breathe to your left. Doesn't mean you have to do it all the time in the pool. No, not necessarily, but they are good things to practice. Breathing left side only, breathing right side only, doing various sets, especially various skill sets that you'll do in the pool. Similarly, if you are right side turn events, so like in other words, you're going out, you have to turn right at one buoy, right at another buoy. It is nice to breathe into the buoy, because generally speaking, you're going to have a little less turbulence there. But let's also say somebody swims up really quickly on your right or splashes, or you come up on somebody on your right side, or you get the current or a wave, the weather is a little crazy, you— and you have to breathe to your left. That just gives you the skill set to know, like, okay, I'm not going to panic. I'm just going to breathe on my left for a little bit. Um, so practice those things in the pool in alignment with that bilateral breathing. I like for my athletes to practice a, um, some breath sets. So breathing every 4, 5, um, typically 7, and then I'll go every and see if it challenged them and see if they can even do every 9 strokes. Um, So what this does is teaches you some breath control. So let's say if again, you've got like some really quick, crazy waves on one side of you, or an athlete who's really, you know, splashing a whole lot, or a crazy swimmer who just won't get away from you or whatever. Um, you have the skillset to be able to say, okay, I know that I need to swim a little faster and I may not be able to, you know, I got to keep my face in the water to get by this person. Or to get around the buoy or whatever. Um, you have the skillset that yes, you might be a little out of breath after that. And that's okay. Cause you know, you can do it, you know, you can, um, hold your breath for that long and you can also breathe on both sides. Okay. So here's our next tip. The next tip, number 5, and this is especially important for my newer open water swimmers is to somehow occupy your brain. So there is something about taking a skilled pool swimmer and putting them in the open water where it's like, whoa, this is a little different. Um, there's no black line on the bottom of the pool. I don't know how deep it is where I'm at. Maybe there are creatures swimming around me. So instead of getting wrapped up in your head about panic, panic, panic, go back to your skills that you have developed in the pool. So maybe, um, it's counting. So 1, 2, 3, breathe. 1, 2, 3, breathe. Um, maybe it's some sort of mantra that you tell yourself, like relax, stretch. Um, I tend to do like more of a body scan. So I'll start with my fingertips and tell myself, okay, reach. Reach, reach. And then I'll think about, you know, what's my head position doing? Okay. You know, keep your chin down. Um, and then I'll think about, okay, how's my hip rotation? Um, and then think about that. And then, you know, for the next 8 or 10 strokes, I'll be thinking about just about my kick. Um, so, and the next thing you know, oh, okay. You're at the next buoy or, oh, all right, you're done. So, um, engaging your mind in a way that's not focused on Oh my word, oh my word, oh my word, panic, panic, panic. Um, going back to those skills that you practice in the pool and things that are comforting and, um, and work best for you. I've had some people who sing to themselves. That's fine with me if that keeps you nice and calm and relaxed. All right. So then next to really make yourself a little faster is practice your starts. And your exits. So, uh, there might be specific races where you start in water or you start on the beach or you're jumping off of a dock. So just make sure that you know what you're getting into. And if you can, again, try to practice it, especially if you're not feeling comfortable or confident in it. Um, try to practice it as much as possible. So if it is a beach start, practice walking into the water. If you want to speed up and really cut down on your times, then walk, practice your dolphin dives. That's one of my favorites to do with groups. So practicing that similarly with exits, are you having to go to a ladder? Are you having to swim? Is it again coming out on the beach? Um, so when you— a little trick if you are on a beach exit, and this is more for a lake, less for an ocean, you want to swim to the point where you can touch the bottom with your hands. So if you can touch the bottom with your hands, that means that you should be at least, uh, thigh deep, if not more like possibly even almost knee deep, and that is an ideal place for you to get out of the water, and you're a little bit faster on foot than you would be swimming. Now, if you are hip deep or chest deep, you are faster swimming than you are trying to walk. So practice those things of exiting. There's some tips and tricks, like, like I mentioned, with dolphin diving and touching the bottom of the floor. And just knowing, knowing your race and analyzing the course, which leads me to tip number 7 is to strategize. So part of this goes with practicing, which was tip number 1. And then also with some of your, like your starts and exits, know your course. Uh, know that I also, you know, weather and things like that can, can change things. So be ready and be flexible to be able to change, but Um, observe other swimmers too, especially if you're not starting first, like see what the other swimmers are doing. Um, see how the water might be pulling them in one direction or another. You know, if a current is pulling them slightly to the left, does that mean you need to sort of feel like you're swimming to the right to stay on course a little bit better? Um, which goggles are you going to choose? Clear goggles. Um, sort of smoky or sort of mirrored. Um, I tend to be one who— I tend to go with my, um, Snake and Pit mirror goggles pretty much almost exclusively. Um, but clear might work better for you. That's totally fine. You just have to make sure again, you practice with it. Uh, and another thing from a strategy perspective, in terms of knowing your course, I'll give you the example of Ironman North Carolina, which, um, is a race in October where you swim through, um, the sort of, uh, is kind of like a channel. Um, there is an exit that is multiple ladders that swimmers can get out of. And there's also a set-up events race, um, that is literally the exact same course. It's called the Wilmington YMCA Sprint Triathlon. It's a really fun one that's in September. So if you're training for Ironman North Carolina, highly recommend doing that sprint beforehand. If you can get to the area, because it's literally the same exact swim, just short a little bit. Uh, but that I intentionally always swim to one of the farthest ladders. So yes, that means I'm swimming a few more strokes longer than everyone else, but there always is a bottleneck at the first couple of ladders. So rather than stand still and look at somebody else's feet while they, um, you know, are treading water and look at somebody else's feet while they struggle to get out of the ladder, I'll take another 5 or 6 strokes to the next ladder that nobody's on, get out of the water and have less opportunity for getting splinters on my feet. Um, so that's just an example of one way to strategize. Some people like cutting the buoys really tightly. Some people like going really wide. So, um, part of that is going to be your, your comfort level and then what's going to work best for your, your race strategy. Okay. So now onto tip number 8. So this is having a backup stroke or what I call an emergency stroke. So if you get, um, hit or unfortunately get, you know, there's a big wave that comes over you or, um, there's endless numbers of things that could potentially happen, but just giving yourself the opportunity to say, okay, I know that this is a stroke that I can fall back on. And it's an opportunity for me to just sort of take a minute, relax, rest, and then regroup and then move forward. So, um, for me, it's typically breaststroke, but for you it might be sidestroke. And there's also the good old emergent, um, elementary backstroke. If you guys remember that one. Um, and some people I'll have them flip on their back and they'll do like full-on backstroke. It doesn't have to be elementary, uh, backstroke, but keep in mind, you can't see where you're going, but if it at least gets you moving, continually moving forward, uh, in backstroke, that's fine too, but practice another stroke other than freestyle in the pool and do it consistently and not just for a little bit to make sure that you're, uh, proficient in another stroke other than freestyle. Okay. Our final tip is going back to tip number 1 of practicing, but practice a lot of these things in the pool. So for example, you can do some skill sets that involve you not touching the wall and literally sort of turning. It's a little awkward, but you know, we're triathletes, we do things a little differently. So instead of going to the wall, touching the wall, and then pushing off with your feet, you can get close to the wall and just continually swim, um, as you sort of turn and swim back in the opposite direction. So that's one way to practice in the pool. I like for athletes to try swimming at least a few strokes with their eyes closed to see if they tend to swim slightly to the right or slightly to the left, or if they tend to, um, swim pretty straight. Um, similarly, you can practice sighting just like I had described before, um, swim in close quarters. So in other words, kind of swimming tightly with each other. So take 3 or 4 people. In one lane line and have them go forward, all swim together. And you just, sometimes you just gotta figure it out, right? Um, similarly, drafting is a really good, um, skill to practice. And you can do this literally touching somebody's toes or being in their bubbles. If you are in their bubbles, you are perfectly drafting and you are saving significant amounts of energy. Uh, similarly, you can also draft off of their hip. Um, so hip drafting is what we call that. So there are things that you can practice not only in the open water, but also in the pool. So play around with those different things. So let's just do a quick recap. Tip number 1 was practice. Got to do it. Tip number 2, make sure you get warmed up well before you get in the open water or on race day. Tip number 3 is learn how to sight. Tip number 4 is make sure that you can bilateral breathe, even if it's something that you don't do consistently, at least to have the skillset. Number 5 is to, uh, occupy your mind, right? So make sure that you have something that you can focus on while you're out there. Number 6 is, uh, practice your starts and your finishes or your starts and your exits. Number 7, make sure you strategize and know your race course. Number 8 is to have a backup stroke or an emergency stroke. And number 9 is practice some of these different skills in the pool. So thank you for listening. And if you are interested in getting hooked up with our open water swims that we do on a regular basis, check us out at theenduranceedge.com. We do regular open water swims every April through October, as well as clinics. And if you're looking for more one-on-one attention, um, check out our one-on-one triathlon coaching programs as well. Thanks again for listening, and we will catch you next time. Thanks for listening to the Find Your Edge podcast. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. And if you're interested in learning more about our endurance coaching, sports and wellness nutrition, metabolic and sweat testing, triathlon training team, or our triathlon training library, be sure to check us out at theenduranceedge.com. And don't forget to follow us on social media at the Endurance Edge. Thanks again, and we'll catch you next time.